Stories about the people, science and research of the Medical Research Council.

Posts tagged ‘MRC Biostatistics Unit’

Programme Leader in Biostatistics Research at the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU), Professor Sheila Bird OBE FRSE, has spent the past 35 years applying her statistical skills to a range of areas that have direct public health policy implications, from transplantation to prisoners’ mortality. As she retires from the MRC, she tells us about some of her research highlights, why she chose a career in biostatistics and provides words of wisdom for future biostatisticians.

Sheila has dedicated 35 years to the MRC Biostatistics Unit

Sheila says some days are spent completely absorbed in study design

Sheila shows her work to the Duke of Edinburgh

Sheila was a key figure in organising the unit’s Centenary Conference in 2014

Sheila has delivered numerous seminars and talks to a range of audiences

Sheila inspires staff and students to share their knowledge and expertise

Sheila is committed to knowledge sharing and public service

Sheila is the only statistician to have received four medals from the RSS

In 2015, Sheila was awarded the inaugural Royal Statistical Society Howard Medal

The introduction of measurement into medicine established the foundations of the modern discipline of biostatistics, crucial to all aspects of medicine, epidemiology and public health. But how did statistics become so embedded? Isabel Baker looks back at Professor Major Greenwood, an eminent statistician of the 20th century, who developed and encouraged some of the first uses of modern statistical methods in medical science.

This 1920s photo of Major Greenwood ― whose forename was Major, rather than reflecting military rank ― pictures him smiling cheerily on a wooden bench. But it gives little away about the nature of this distinguished and imposing man who dedicated his life’s work to statistics.

“There can be no doubt that to many people he was rather formidable,” reads a tribute to Greenwood in the London Hospital Gazette’s obituary. “But those who knew him best realised that he was just as critical of himself as of others, and that much of his ungenial manner was really due to shyness.” [1]

Greenwood started his career by following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both well-respected doctors. But in 1904, while working part-time as a GP, he attended a course on statistics at University College and found a new interest. Read more

Statistics has been part of the work of the MRC for almost our entire history ― the MRC Biostatistics Unit is 100 years old this year. Here Dr Howard Thom, who did his PhD at the unit, describes how important it is to remember who statistics is for: patients.

Psoriatic arthritis is a combination of two very unpleasant conditions: the rashes associated with the skin condition psoriasis and the painful inflammation of joints found in arthritis.

How and why some patients rapidly deteriorate ― making it more and more difficult to complete everyday tasks such as preparing food, making a bed, or even sitting in a chair ― while others remain stable, is of great interest to doctors and, of course, to patients. Read more

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